Playing Pretend: One woman's venture into the cosplay subculture

An estimated 100,000 fans of comics, science fiction and video games will invade the Orange County Convention Center this weekend for MegaCon Orlando, the largest such event in the Southeast.

Most will do so for the chance to meet celebrities such as comic-book legend Stan Lee or actors such as Tim Curry, Felicia Day and Richard Dean Anderson.

However, others — the cosplayers — will do so to become part of the spectacle itself.

Morphing into another character via elaborate costumes is a talent that has grabbed the interest of many who consider themselves a part of the cosplay subculture.

And although the unique hobby requires significant time and financial investment, for 20-year-old Ocoee resident Rachel Alexis Bahr, it is quickly becoming one of her favorite hobbies.

“I’m the type of person (who) would really admire the costumes and everything, but I didn’t know that cosplay was even really a thing until my friend introduced me to it,” Bahr said. “But as a little girl, I just wanted to be a princess, so now I can kind of do that without going through Disney.”

Bahr, who works as a character performer for birthday parties and events with Enchanted Entertainment LLC, spends much of her time in costumes and pretending to be someone else. But the challenge is a welcome experience for Bahr and others like her who relish the chance to don atypical garb worn by characters in popular anime, comics, video games and movies.

As a beginner, Bahr mostly has been buying her costumes and wigs online from Facebook groups. However, she also is teaching herself to sew, so she can create more detailed costumes and tailor the outfits into her own version. 

For a Christmas comic convention, she made a Christmas-themed version Harley Quinn and Anna from the 2013 Disney animation film Frozen. For her Harley Quinn shirt, she put “Santa’s Lil Helper” and for Anna’s costume, she used a vintage German dress that once belonged to her grandmother.

“Another character that I really like is Anna from ‘Frozen,’” Bahr said. “I think it’s because I have the same personality as her. She’s just funny and quirky and awkward, and it’s just fun to put on her persona and jump and dance around.”

Although she relates to the character of Anna, Bahr’s absolute favorite character to play has been Harley Quinn, and, in the future, she aspires to create character costumes for other strong female characters.

“I read the comics before ‘Suicide Squad’ came out,” she said. “She’s such a fun personality and a (strong) woman, but she’s not just a villain. A lot of people just see her as The Joker’s little toy, but that’s not what she is at all, and I feel like she kind of is exactly how society sees women.”

Although she’s only been cosplaying for less than two years, Bahr has witnessed outrageous costumes at some conventions she’s attended that inspire her to improve her own costume design skills. She posts photos of several of her creations on her Facebook page, Princess Lexi Cosplay.

Some people, she said, spend up to $1,000 on their costumes to win cash prizes in contests, but she mostly sticks to shopping for fabrics in Plato’s Closet and Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts to create hers. The biggest challenge with handmade costumes is making sure they fit right once completed.

“But in the end, seeing that final product is completely worth it,” she said.

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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected].